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The Fine Hand

@thefi.nehand

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Imagining the present through the lens of the past and our dreams of the future. Founded by A.K. Olsen and M. Winter.

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The traditional ballad, Bonnie Annie (Child 24, Roud 172).
Performed by THE FINE HAND
@katy_sings_stuff , voice
Elizabeth Sommers, fiddle
@mara___winter, flute

The singing of ballads is an essential aspect of North American music history, transmitted by oral tradition and single-sheet broadsides from the British Isles; and experiencing many “revivals'' in popularity: as memories of a recently departed homeland in harsh Colonial America, as resistance songs in the voices of enslaved people, as religious and moral affirmation in the Great Awakening, and on the front porches of poor, mostly forgotten populations in rural Appalachia. Ballad performances recorded in the 19th century also reveal a striking resemblance to the cultivated modern performance styles of monophonic Medieval European songs. Both genres share various formulae: the use of functional approaches to accompanying texts as well as the mutual language of drones, rhythmic structures, modal improvisation, and instrumental ornamentation. The aesthetic similarities between traditional instrumental music in colonial North America and early European forms suggest a reciprocal influence, contributing to the current musical imagining of Medieval European song performance. Through a musical amalgam of memories, traditions, feelings, languages, lands, "Send it by the water" aims to link each one of us to our imagined homelands and to a feeling of continuous, layered histories.

Recorded in Leymen, FR
Leonardo Bortolotto @massarioleo, audio and camera work
@mara___winter, video editing

#folkmusic #thefinehand #earlymusic taken in Leymen, Alsace, France by @thefi.nehand

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3 years ago

Bury me beneath the willow (Roud 410)

We’ve been singing this ballad together over the past couple of years, at the beginnings or endings of our rehearsal sessions, as a way to refresh our ears, to signal the end of the day, or to enjoy the first sounds of meeting to make music together after a long time apart. Here’s a clip of that warm kind of joy during our rehearsal at GZUT in Gliwice yesterday afternoon.
Elizabeth Sommers - banjo and voice / Carla Nahadi Babelegoto, Vincent Kibildis, Isabella Shaw, Anne-Kathryn Olsen - voices
#balladsinging #folkmusic #banjo #roudindex taken in Hala Modeli GZUT by @thefi.nehand

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9 hours ago

BREMF WORKSHOP: Transform your Dreams | Thursday 15 October | 6 - 7.45pm |£5 / under 18s free

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Part of the One Song / BREMF programme. This October, Fabrica presents One Song, an exhibition and community archive by artist Kadir Karababa. A programme of accompanying events brings the work to life through music, conversation and shared experiences. This workshop is presented in partnership with @brightonemf

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Dreams typically come to us as images rather than words. Inspired by the visual score at the heart of Send it by the Water (Friday 16 October), and shaped by the performers’ own dreams and cultural traditions, this workshop invites you to transform your own dreamscape into symbols and images.

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Together with members of the @fi.nehand you’ll create a unique graphic score and bring it to life through music.

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No musical experience required and all ages welcome.

#Fabrica #ArtForEveryone #BrightonEarlyMusicFestival #BrightonEvents #Music taken in Fabrica gallery by @thefi.nehand

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17 days ago

Our version of the Irish reel, “Splendid Isolation”, also known as “McGlinchey’s,” or “Brendan McGlinchey’s”. Composed by fiddler Brendan McGlinchey in 1972, the tune was the result of an “outpouring of emotion” following the end of a tour and the parting of friends. Swipe ➡️to see McGlinchey performing his re-working of the tune into a slow air.

Our clip was recorded live at the festival FLORES MUSICAE in Nova Gorica (SL). @kulturnidomng
Elizabeth Sommers, fiddle
Mara Winter, flute
Vincent Kibildis, harp
Isabella Shaw, harp
Anne-Kathryn Olsen, mountain dulcimer
Carla Babelegoto, vibes 🌊🌸

There are still two more chances to catch us performing live this fall, in Brighton (UK), and Gliwice (PL). Info ⬇️

BRIGHTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL @brightonemf
Brighton, UK
16. October
19:30 - St. George’s Church

ALL’IMPROVISO FESTIVAL @allimprovvisofestival
Gliwice, PL
18. October
19:00 - GZUT Gliwice

#irishmusic #flute #fiddle #gothicharp #mountaindulcimer taken in Nova Gorica, Slovenija by @thefi.nehand

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19 days ago

Thanks to @kulturnidomng for inviting 🌊The Fine Hand 🌊 to open this year’s edition of the Flores Musicae festival! Here are some great photo memories of the concert last night, featuring projections of the graphic score of Kite’s piece, Mniíčagla (along the edges on water), which was commissioned by The Fine Hand for our program, Send It By The Water: The Myth Of The Ballad.
📷 Saša Mrak

There are still two more chances to catch us performing live this fall, in Brighton (UK), and Gliwice (PL). Info ⬇️

BRIGHTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL
Brighton, UK
16. October
19:30 - St. George’s Church

ALL’IMPROVISO FESTIVAL
Gliwice, PL
18. October
19:00 - GZUT Gliwice

#balladsinging #medievalmusic #banjo #gothicharp #mountaindulcimer taken in Nova Gorica by @thefi.nehand

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25 days ago

They will know me by my joy - a new, original ballad composed by Isabella Shaw @isabella._shaw
“A spell-poem calling into being the restoration of kinship connection through Afro-Diasporic bloodlines and tributaries. This piece interweaves and pays homage to African-American traditional musics such as call-and-response songs, work songs, and spirituals with layered meanings. Historically, double meanings in these songs have been used to give directions (religious metaphors sometimes included physical hints for how to escape on the Underground Railroad) as well as messages of comfort and sustenance. These traditions are now drawn upon to invoke reconnecting of long-lost culture and lineages.” (Shaw)

Enjoy the opening of this transcendent ballad sung by Isabella, who accompanies herself on the medieval harp.

Hear the whole Fine Hand team join Isabella to perform ‘They will know me by my joy’ at one of our fall concert dates:

FLORES MUSICAE FESTIVAL @kulturnidomng
Nova Gorica, SL
24. September
20:00 - EPICenter

BRIGHTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL @brightonemf
Brighton, UK
16. October
19:30 - St. George’s Church

ALL’IMPROVISO FESTIVAL @allimprovvisofestival
Gliwice, PL
18. October
19:00 - GZUT Gliwice

#folkmusic #balladsinging #kinship #mermaidmusic by @thefi.nehand

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a month ago

A Pretty Fair Maid In The Garden (Roud 264)
A ballad collected by Percy Grainger in 1906, when Mrs. Thompson of Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire, sang him ‘A Fair Maid Walkin’ All in Her Garden’. The song is also known by names such as ‘The Broken Token’ or ‘The Poor And Single Sailor’, and its theme is widespread across North American folklore: a long-absent returning lover who resolves to test his sweetheart’s fidelity; upon finding her true, he identifies himself by matching parts of a broken ring.

Here is an extract by @katy_sings_stuff , accompanying herself with the mountain dulcimer.

Hear more great ballads like this at one of our fall concert dates:

FLORES MUSICAE FESTIVAL
Nova Gorica, SL
24. September
20:00 - EPICenter

BRIGHTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL
Brighton, UK
16. October
19:30 - St. George’s Church

ALL’IMPROVISO FESTIVAL
Gliwice, PL
18. October
19:00 - GZUT Gliwice
#folkmusic #ballads #thefinehand #mountaindulcimer by @thefi.nehand

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a month ago

Next week we are traveling to FLORES MUSICAE 🌸 @kulturnidomng to start our fall tour of our ballads program, Send It By The Water: The Myth Of The Ballad. We are looking forward to sharing this amazing music with new audiences around Europe over the next couple of months! #folkmusic #ballads #medievalmusic taken in Nova Gorica, Slovenija by @thefi.nehand

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a month ago

Our program of North American ballads, « Send it by the Water » returned on Sunday for the first time since its debut in 2024! Thanks to everyone at the @montalbane_festival for inviting us to participate in such a special summer solstice gathering—the festival truly lives up to its legendary status!

Three more chances in autumn 2026 to catch a live performance of « Send it by the Water: the myth of the ballad » : Flores Musicæ (SL), Brighton Early Music Festival @brightonemf (UK), and All’improvviso Festival Gliwice (PL). Let us know if we will see you there!

#balladsinging #shapenotes #folkmusic #experimentalmusic #medievalmusic taken in Freyburg Unstrut by @thefi.nehand

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4 months ago

Playing around with this beautiful old melody on my Medieval bass flute. See me and @katy_sings_stuff perform this live with @thefi.nehand at @montalbane_festival on June 21st. #timetravel #medieval #irishflute by @thefi.nehand

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4 months ago

Getting ready to perform « Send it by the water » this weekend at @montalbane_festival 🌊🫧🌬️ by @thefi.nehand

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4 months ago

Some shots from the premier of « The Frauenzimmer » in Vienna, along with an extract from the great review of our concert published in Die Presse (AT). The full review is behind a paywall, but we had to share a part of Marion Eigl’s wonderful description of the show with our followers. The link to the article is in our bio.

Congrats to everyone involved in the performance, and a big thanks again to Peter Reichelt, Julika Meixner and the whole production team at Festival Resonanzen / @wienerkonzerthaus .
Photos: ©Wiener Konzerthaus / Andrea Humer

#tudormusic #renaissancefeminism #ballads #costumedesign #viennamusic by @thefi.nehand

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9 months ago